Editor’s note: Throughout the season, we’re looking at Penn State’s most memorable teams from the past 40 years. Up next is the season that cemented the Nittany Lions as one of the nation’s premier programs, 1986, the season that Penn State won its second national title. Fans can also hear from letterman Bob White, who’s appearing this week on The Football Letter Live to share insight and stories from the ’86 season. 

In terms of a centennial celebration goes, the 1987 Fiesta Bowl unfolded in cinematic fashion for Penn State. Almost as if brothers and Penn State graduates Julius and Philip Epstein wrote the script; the two brothers authored quite possibly the greatest screenplay ever, Casablanca, and as John Black noted in The Football Letter, Julius was in attendance for the game. 

Penn State alumni and fans knows the details that elevated that game beyond just college football or even sports, transcending it into a national event that captured the attention and imagination of an entire country. 

Two unbeaten teams. An iconic coach with a tradition-rich program against a brash up-and-coming squad not afraid to boast — sometimes, I wonder if a younger Joe Paterno actually had more in common with Jimmy Johnson than Penn State fans have ever realized. Army fatigues. A bombastic pre-game dinner that included players walking out. A Heisman Trophy winner. A national television audience on a night set aside entirely for the game. And most importantly, a national title at stake.

A lot has been written about the 1986 Penn State team, and we were fortunate enough earlier this year to get a bunch of the guys from that together to watch a replay of the Fiesta Bowl, and you can watch the archived video on our Facebook page. There are plenty of good stories and insight from the players who were on the field, who were so enthusiastic and articulate, that we ended up keeping the video going for four-plus hours. Leading up to the night, we thought maybe we’d go for an hour or two before things slowed down. Fortunately, that never happened, and you can tell that the guys enjoyed each other’s company immensely, in addition to having the opportunity to interact with fans who tuned in on Facebook Live. 

Leading up to the Fiesta Bowl, Penn State mostly dominated its scheduled, which with the exception of Notre Dame, was comprised entirely of opponents in the eastern time zone. Along with the Fighting Irish (24-19), only Cincinnati (23-17) and Maryland (17-15) stayed within single digits of Penn State, which outscored its regular season opponents by an average margin of 30-12 (326-123).

The list of folks who were in person that night in Tempe includes Black, who followed in the legendary footsteps of Ridge Riley to continue chronicling the Nittany Lions’ ascent atop the college football landscape. 

Similar to his letter detailing Penn State’s first national title following the 1983 Sugar Bowl, Black included references to Riley and his book, Road to No. 1, within the opening paragraphs of the letter following the ’87 Fiesta Bowl. 

The 1986 season is a fitting sequel to Riley’s history, as the national championship culminated a six-month celebration of the 100th gridiron season (in Penn State history), which began with three black-tie galas in Hershey, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia in July, honoring gridiron greats of the past, and brought Coach of the Year honors from the Football Writers of America and Sportsman of the Year honors from Sports Illustrated for Coach Joe Paterno in December. 

In terms of imagery and a backdrop, that Fiesta Bowl might never be topped. In some ways, that’s OK, or even something to be cheered. When a win that iconic comes around, it’s maybe best to not try to compare it to something else or have it topped. Rather, enjoy it for what it is and the circumstances that led it to happen. 

Looking back a few years, or even Paterno’s head coaching career up to that point, there were several near-misses and seasons when Penn State was overlooked, even with unbeaten season. The ’68 and ’69 teams were dominant, ’73 was magical with John Cappelletti winning the Heisman Trophy, and ’79 and ’85 were oh-so-close, with the Nittany Lions falling to Alabama and Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, respectively, in national title games. 

After winning two national titles in four years, and playing for a championship in four out of nine years, the sentiment was that Penn State had fully arrived, and wasn’t just amid a nice stretch. 

Penn State football transformed during the 1980s, as did the University, and it’s fairly easy to argue that the relationship goes beyond merely correlation to causation. 

Paterno gave a series of highly charged speeches to the University’s Board of Trustees and Faculty Senate following the team’s first national title, prompting Penn State to start focusing in earnest on fundraising. In the Fiesta Bowl letter, Black noted that earlier in 1986, Paterno had a Library Endowment Fund established in his name and that he was selected as vice-chairman of the University’s largest fundraising campaign in history, a $200 million effort for academic excellence. 

Paterno’s Grand Experiment has been noted and discussed many times, to the point that it almost seems obvious now. But 30-40 years ago, it was a sweeping change, and one that Penn State gravitated toward and supported. 

Let’s put it this way: When was the last time you read a story about a historic victory in college football, and within the first handful of paragraphs, the winning coach’s strident support of academics is pointed out? 

It’s fair and worthwhile to point out that the Grand Experiment might not’ve been so successful if the football team hadn’t been so dominant, though any thorough write-up of Penn State football in the ‘80s should merge the two parallel universes, and that shines through with Black’s letters. 

The football team doesn’t exist on its own. The Nittany Lions are an extension of the University and our worldwide alumni base. Each side supports the other, and in the end, everyone is better for it. And when it ends with a national championship on a night when very few people watching will ever forget — and certainly nobody who was there in person — it’s worth remembering for all the right reasons. 

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Editor’s note: Throughout the season, we’re looking at Penn State’s most memorable teams from the past 40 years. We start with the season that launched the Nittany Lions into a player on the national stage, 1982, and fans can hear more about this landmark season on this week’s episode of The Football Letter Live.

After Penn State football spent the late 1960s and 1970s knocking on the door of national prominence, the Nittany Lions burst through during the 1980s.

Two national championships. Five seasons of 10-plus wins. Defining plays. Increased national media exposure, including Joe Paterno becoming the first college football coach that Sports Illustrated named as Sportsman of the Year — at a time when the publication was the leading authority in sports media.

Totaled together, the decade eliminated any doubt that Penn State was simply just a regional power in college football. The Nittany Lions transformed into a national contender, with 1982 serving as the launching point after Penn State earned its first national title with a thrilling win over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.

Covering the team in the early years of his succeeding The Football Letter creator, Ridge Riley, current editor John Black capped off the landmark season with an opening paragraph that paid homage to both Riley and the humble beginnings of Penn State football. 

In the lead to The Football Letter detailing the epic bowl victory, Black referenced Riley’s landmark book, The Road to Number One, writing: 

“The Road to Number One began its long and tortuous route on Old Main lawn 96 years ago when George Linsz showed up one autumn afternoon in 1887 with his funny looking oblate spheroid. It reached its goal the night of Jan. 1, 1983, in the New Orleans Superdome, where the Nittany Lions knocked aside previously undefeated and top-ranked Georgia, 27-23, in the 49th Sugar Bowl Classic to claim their first national championship.”

Black weaved additional reference to Riley and his book throughout the intro, writing how Paterno and Penn State were greeted with fans upon landing in Harrisburg, and then along the entire route back to Happy Valley. Back in State College, President John W. Oswald declared to the team, “You inspire us all to excellence,” Black wrote, adding that Paterno closed out the rally at Old Main by saying, “Let’s be No. 1 not only this year, but forever.”

Penn State jumped to a 20-10 halftime lead before a record Sugar Bowl crowd of 78,124, with Gregg Garrity’s iconic touchdown catch from Todd Blackledge providing the winning cushion in the fourth quarter. Georgia added a touchdown with less than five minutes remaining but couldn’t close the gap, resulting in the 27-23 victory for the Nittany Lions. 

“It was just your basic streak,” demurred Garrity after the game,” Black reported. “We usually throw that pass to the tailback, but the safety stopped on Curt (Warner) along the hashmark and I was open.”

Black continued: 

Dooley (Vince Dooley, Georgia’s coach) and Paterno saw it a little bit differently.

Dooley called it the key play of the game. “Everybody talks about (Kenny) Jackson and they call Garrity the other receiver,” he moaned. That’s some other receiver!”

Paterno said, “We had been running effectively. It was a good play action fake, a great pass and a great catch. It was a clutch play. We had been struggling in the second half till then.”

Garrity totaled four catches for 116 yards, while Blackledge finished 13-for-23 and 228 yards, to go with the 47-yard scoring strike to Garrity. Warner, meanwhile, out-rushed Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker (117-103)

The Sugar Bowl ended up being the last game as a Nittany Lion for Blackledge, who declared for the NFL Draft. After defeating Georgia, Blackledge discussed the impending decision, saying that if he did come back, he’d be more concerned with repeating as national champs than winning the Heisman Trophy, awarded to the nation’s top player. 

As Black pointed out, either Blackledge or Warner might’ve had a good chance of winning the honor if Penn State wasn’t such a balanced team, though as Warner astutely mentioned on a national TV appearance following the win, “You have to make some sacrifices to be a national champion.”

As a good indicator that Paterno’s Grand Experience had been highly successful up to that point — and would continue to be so for three more decades — here’s what Blackledge said about what he valued most about his Penn State experience:

“The preparation Penn State and the coaches have given me for life away from college and away from football. The confidence to use my abilities in whatever way I can.”

Penn State qualified for the Sugar Bowl by battling through one of the nation’s toughest schedules, beating traditional powers Nebraska and Notre Dame, and finishing off the regular season with a victory over Pitt. The one blemish was a 42-21 loss to Alabama in the middle of the season, though the Nittany Lions responded by beating their next opponents 201-48, before clashing with Georgia. 

Black laid out the prospects for Penn State in a preseason edition of The Football Letter that looked ahead to the season opener against Temple, even including how “the ’82 season is a tailgater’s dream with every September Saturday scheduled for a fall frolic in the vale of old Mt. Nittany.” 

Aside from the Sugar Bowl, the 27-24 victory over Nebraska in the season’s fourth game is the contest many fans remember most vividly from that year and showed signs that 1982 would be the year when things would break the Nittany Lions way. 

Black started that edition of The Football Letter in memorable fashion, transforming into the role of a professor and laying out a pop quiz with 12 questions. There was a lot to digest after Penn State’s memorable come-from-behind victory, a win capped with a two-yard touchdown pass from Blackledge to tight end Kirk Bowman, who made a spectacular catch with only a few seconds remaining. 

Penn State alumnus and author Michael Weinreb — a frequent contributor to the Penn Stater magazine — detailed attending the game as a youngster in the preface to his impressive book, Season of Saturdays. 

I strongly recommend getting a copy so you can read the entire entry, though I’m guessing Penn State fans can relate to the sense of wonder that Weinreb shares in these two sections:

The home team led 14-0 early, and then they trailed 24-21 late in the fourth quarter, and I could not see most of what happened after that, because I was too small and everyone around me was standing and I was engulfed in a thicket of down jackets and cigar smoke and pocket radio antennas and the voice of a guy named Steve was critiquing the play-calling

Shortly after:

There was a throw to the sideline, to a Penn State tight end who was clearly out of bounds but was ruled in bounds, for reasons that either defy explanation or raise suspicion, depending upon one’s perspective; there was a throw to the end zone, to a klutzy tight end whose nickname was actually stone hands, who cradled the pass in his arms and toppled to the ground for the game-winning touchdown. And I remember the quake and the aftershocks inside the stadium, and I remember the bacchanalia outside, and I remember listening to the radio broadcast in the car, and I remember watching the highlights on the news and on television the next morning, and I remember thinking that I would never, in the course of my life, see anything bigger than that again.

In a way, Weinreb was right. Seeing that game at that age is an experience that can never be replicated. Just the same, a senior standing in the front row of Nittanyville after camping outside Beaver Stadium won’t have that same experience again the following year, or the following decade. 

The last 40 years of Penn State football have provided plenty of these moments for alumni and fans, and we’re looking forward to sharing as many as possible this season. 

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For more on the The Football Letter, including online archives (requires Alumni Association member log-in), click here.

Not yet an Alumni Association member? Click here.